Tag Archives: conference

The fifth Common Dreams 2019 conference, Sydney will be held in Sydney on 11 – 14 July at Newington College in Stanmore, Sydney. Matthew Fox has been booked as the distinguished international keynote speaker. Make a note in your diary & plan to attend what will prove to be another exciting & stimulating gathering of progressives featuring leading international, Australian, & New Zealand speakers & workshop leaders.

Share this:

Like this:

Jim McAloon’s Presentation at the Napier Conference – for those of you who were not there, and for those who were 🙂

I want to explore in this talk some of the histories of faith-based political engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand. If my emphasis is on the political sphere and public questions, that is partly reflecting my particular interests and partly because I think it is important for people of progressive faith to know our past.

Why do I say that? Because I think that one unfortunate consequence of the increased strength of conservative forces in many of the Christian churches in the last 30 or so years has been a weakening of the faith-based element in movements for social change, and an almost default setting in the popular media that Christian commitment implies social conservatism (a default setting that many of the leaders of what used to be called mainline denominations encourage, wittingly or otherwise). Continue reading Faith and Politics – some historical thoughts→

Common Dreams ConferenceProgressive Spirituality: New Directions

It would be great if a few kiwis can get over and join this. There are some excellent speakers, a parallel programme for emerging generations, panel discussions, lots of electives and an artist in residence. Other familiar names to NZers are Margaret Mayman and Ian Lawton. MORE INFORMATION

At least it is a movement of sharing and support for those, in and out of the churches, who identify as progressive. We were challenged (at a convivial conference dinner at St Luke’s Remuera) to consider hosting the next conference. So here we are, on the way to a next event…